July 2019 Feature of the Month SUBSCRIPTIONS Frontier Ventures 1605 East Elizabeth Street Pasadena, CA 91104-2721 [email protected]
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Editorial July 2019 Feature of the Month SUBSCRIPTIONS Frontier Ventures 1605 East Elizabeth Street Pasadena, CA 91104-2721 [email protected] Dear Praying Friends, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Keith Carey In 1972 I read George Orwell’s novel 1984, a chilling For comments on content call novel about the future world under three hostile 626-398-2241 or email [email protected] powers, each under the control of evil megalomaniacs. PRAY FOR People’s daily lives were being monitored by ASSISTANT EDITOR Paula Fern “telescreens,” in every room in their homes. The idea The Frontier People Groups in seemed crazy in 1948 when the book was written, but WRITERS Patricia Depew China and South Asia it is becoming very possible in today’s world, thanks Karen Hightower Wesley Kawato to surveillance cameras. Governments can use them Benjamin Klett to snuff out crime, but they can also find out who is David Kugel Christopher Lane following Christ. Such a government can now control Ted Proffitt the church, close them down, or even kill believers like Cory Raynham Lydia Reynolds we read in the book of Revelation. Jean Smith Allan Starling Chun Mei Wilson Surveillance cameras are becoming a normal part of John Ytreus life in China, and the government wants them in all DAILY BIBLE COMMENTARIES public places, even churches. How far will this go? Is Keith Carey this an example of the beginning of the End Times? CUSTOMER SERVICE Let’s not forget that there are still 7,000 unreached Lois Carey Lauri Rosema people groups in the world, and the end will not come GRAPHICS until all have responded to Christ (Matt 24:14). Will Keith Carey you be part of the big push to take his name to the David Gutierrez ends of the earth? If so, this prayer guide can be your PRINTER tool to pave the way for those who take Christ to the Yuli Color Reproduction Co., LTD. (Taiwan) unreached nations. WEB SITE In Him, www.globalprayerdigest.org https://prayerstrategists.net/about/ prayer-guides/ ISSN 1045-9731 Contents of the Global Prayer Digest © 2019 Keith Carey, editor-in-chief, GPD Frontier Ventures 1605 East Elizabeth Street [email protected] Pasadena, CA 91104 https://prayerstrategists.net/about/prayer-guides/ Contents of this booklet may be reproduced if appropriate credit and For the free GPD app, search for "Global Prayer Digest" subscription information are given. Cover photo by iStockPhotos 2 3 Pray for the Nations FREE Prayer Resources! using your cell phone! Global PrayerDigest FREE VERSIONS OF THE GPD AND OTHERS! PODCASTS To hear GPD and Joshua Project EMAIL materials go to: Go to the website, globalprayerdigest. globalprayerdigest.libsyn.com org, and enter your email address in joshuaproject.libsyn.com the box in the top, right corner, then click "submit" http://joshuaproject.net/ 10-40 Window Reporter DOWNLOADABLE/PRINTABLE Prayer for nations of the 10-40 Window. Fellowship of Prayer Strategists has https://www.win1040.org calendars and entire GPD and Joshua Project prayer materials! Devotional Ideas https://prayerstrategists.net/about/ How can you make the most of prayer-guides/ this prayer digest: • Some people use it as a supplement to their regular APP devotional time. You can get the free app by going to the App Store or the Google Play • Others enjoy reading and Store, and search for "Global Prayer praying around the dinner table with the entire family. Digest" You can also get the app by going to the App Store or the Google • We encourage you to Play Store, and search for "Unreached gather monthly with of the Day" friends who are involved in Get the free app today! this movement. Joshua Project Every day at the top of the Research and daily prayer materials page you’ll find the name of an for UPGs. unreached people group for which to pray. 5 To Help You Pray Better Chinese Church There were a number of high-profile cases of persecution last year, 2018. In What is the Future of the Henan Province, where there is a high percentage of believers, more than 7,000 crosses were torn down according to Radio France International, a secular public news broadcast. The local government also burned Bibles, raided Chinese Church? Christian homes, arrested church members and took over church buildings. Some congregations are expected to install facial-recognition surveillance cameras, and those that don’t comply might be shut down. Landlords istock_halloJulie are charging huge increases in rent or refusing to do further business with churches. What Do the Chinese Want From their Government? Order and unity are very important to the Chinese. If they could, they would have all 400 people groups melt into the Han Chinese mold, speak Mandarin and forget their ethnic origins. That is especially true for the Muslim Uighurs; recent reports tell us that a high percentage of the Muslim Uighurs are being “re-educated” to fit in more with the rest of China. (https:// www.nationalreview.com/2018/08/china-persecution-of-uyghur-minority- demands-international-response/). Unlike the Christians, who are largely Han here is good reason to be concerned that Chinese Chinese, the Uighurs look Central Asian and practice Islam. In fairness to the currency notes always have the image of Mao Zedong, Chinese government, there have been strong Uighur separatist movements, butT it says quite a bit about what the Chinese want in a but these can be undercut if they would include the Uighurs into their government leader. They value order, unity, and nation building, new prosperity. which is what Mao provided. He brought China from a nation —by anonymous of warlords with numerous cultures and languages to one of The Chinese want social harmony, and they are willing to pay a heavy price unity with Mandarin as the language and Communism as the to achieve it. They value the common good over individual rights. Individuals government standard. But on the other hand, Mao holds the must do what is needed for the nation to be orderly and prosperous. world record for mass killings. Order and unity are important to any nation state, but at what cost? Why Does the Government Feel Threatened by Christianity? Through the centuries, the church in China has faced persecution off and on. In today’s China, persecution is In this way of thinking, foreign religions like Islam and Christianity are relatively mild compared to certain times in their history, but a threat to Chinese ways. Islam and Christianity both entered China via this could change if the wrong people gain control of this huge foreigners and foreign ideas. Perhaps even more importantly, the Chinese nation. Artificial intelligence and surveillance cameras can remember that their nation was humiliated by “Christian” foreign powers that make sure that there is no place to hide for believers. More on treated China like a colony in the 19th century, a time they call the “century that later. of humiliation.” For these reasons, they want these religions to be Sinicized, continued on next page 6 7 Chinese Church Chinese Church meaning made more Chinese. Singing the national anthem in church and (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-09-18/ displaying the Chinese flag can easily become the norm with church services. china-social-credit-a-model-citizen-in-a-digital-dictatorship/10200278) Furthermore, both Islam and Christianity insist on allegiance to a particular These surveillance cameras are being put in all public places, including God, who is high above the Chinese government. By contrast, Buddhism and churches. If the Chinese government decided that Christianity was not Confucianism do not make such claims on allegiance, so they are not seen as patriotic, they would have the information to cause problems for believers. the same kind of threat. The government is also suspicious that these foreign religions might be used as a vehicle for foreign powers to influence or even control China like they were during colonial times. A Silver Lining Some have compared what is happening in China today to the Wesleyan The Chinese government has the power to install surveillance cameras in Revival in England during the late 1700s. The last thing the government wants every church in China if they chose to do so. They can also make sure there are is for China to become a larger version of South Korea, where there is a high government officials to watch and listen to church services. Already, Chinese percentage of believers. If that happened, their hopes of being the number one Communist Party (CCP) manuals instruct their cadres to make friends with source of allegiance would be through. Christian leaders in order to influence them. Apparently, this has been their policy for many years, not only for Christian leaders, but for others as well. Perhaps the biggest reason why Christianity is viewed as a threat is that it is growing very fast in China, and the believers are strong in their faith. In fact, That influence can easily go the other direction, especially if true believers there are about 10 times more praying through this GPD devotional in Chinese demonstrate concern for government officials through prayer and acts of than in English. It is hard to say how many Christians there are in China. kindness. In Phil 1:12, the Apostle Paul infers that he had influenced palace Most estimates are between 50-70 million, but Asia Harvest suggests a number guards who were charged with keeping him in chains. The parallels between of 130 million. what happened during the time of Paul and today’s China are remarkable. The church in China is already beginning to deal with a time of testing and persecution.